Fisher X-202 Amplifier - new acquistion, need help

[ssouci]

hello, I just picked up a vintage Fisher X-202 integrated amplifier (not X-202-B)

it's not the prettiest or most cosmetically perfect unit, but it sure looks like a cool old-school relic!

the unit was rebuilt/restored internally by the previous owner, who seems knowledgeable and works on a lot of tube units

not sure of exactly what was done, but all the e-cap cans were replaced (some with full replacements, others were stuffed into existing cans)... most caps were replaced including some Russian PIO... selenium rectifier replaced.... some/most of the larger resistors were replaced... most if not all of the original carbon comp resistors were kept... some RCA terminals replaced... the work seems to be of very good quality

all tubes are vintage (most made in Britain, rebranded, some USA), except for the 4 output tubes which are a matched quad of new-manufacture Sovtek EL84M (purchased from a respected online seller)... this unit requires four 7189 output tubes

everything seems to work and it plays fine, very nicely actually

after about 10 hours of listening, here's what I've noticed and could use some help with:

1. SOUND QUALITY
the sound overall is "very good", but it seems to lack some vibrancy, warmth and smoothness... the high end is there, but not very sparkly, airy or highly detailed... generally there is a bit of veiling of the highs and mids, and mids are not that great... the lows are there and OK, but not too authoritative and it's hard to get just the right balance together with the mids/highs... ie., it seems to lack some of the characteristics that tube amps are especially known for... I'm suspecting that this unit can sound better than it does, based on what others have said about the X-202... hey, it's very good, but I'm just not all that excited about it... should I be or am I expecting too much from this amp?

2. CLIPPING + LOW CHANNEL
A. when I tested the high volume capability, all was good until I hit 11 o'clock position on the volume... it got pretty loud, but then I could hear some breakup distortion (especially vocals), almost as if a new distorted track was introduced over the music... at first I thought the speaker cone was ripped or breaking apart... I assume this is the clipping point of this amp?... did I reach the limits of the clean power output?)
B. then when I tried to debug and figure out what might be causing it by playing around with switches and settings, I discovered that the R channel was almost dead! (only 10% of L channel volume)... so, I turned volume back down, and eventually (after a few minutes), the R channel's volume went back up to normal... this problem has not come back since at normal listening volumes... very weird

3. VOLUME CONTROL
volume control is not gradual enough... from zero position, it doesn't take much rotation to suddenly get healthy volume (approx. only 10-15 degrees)... then when you go louder, it gets really loud (and into clipping I believe) at only the 11 o'clock position, not even half way to full rotation... this makes it hard to control the volume, and I'd far prefer the control to be spread out more over its full range... is this normal and can this be adjusted?

4. KNOB
has a non-original "Stereo Dimension" knob... it's too big and has silver edge ring... am I crazy to expect to find a genuine replacement?... does anyone have one for sale or a source?

general comments...

regarding my assessment of sound quality, I'm not a tube expert, but can at least compare to this Fisher against my 2 other tube amps: a little Electrohome SET console pull (12AX7/6BQ5) amp, and, my Eico HF-81 amp (100% rebuilt, with Russian PIO coupling caps, Russian output tubes)... both of these amps seem to sound better, more tube-ish, and more pleasant to listen to especially at normal modest listening levels... the Eico especially is excellent

I've noticed that the Fisher does seems to sound better after it gets real hot after 1.5 hours of playing

my best tone settings so far for normal listening levels is:
- loudness: ON (sounds dead and non-tube-ish with this OFF)
- bass: decreased to 10 o'clock
- treble: flat
- low filter: ON
- high filter: OFF
- stereo dimension: fully to the left (CCW)

any advice or comments hugely appreciated, I'm especially interested in maximizing the sound quality

thank you!

 

[AlTinkster92]

First thing I would do is clean the controls. Get some Caig Deoxit and then follow up with Caig Faderlube F-5, that will most likely help with the volume controls and the others as well. Your X202 doesnt look that bad, some clean up will help. There is a good sticky up top of this Forum that will show you step by step on how to clean tube gear, was a help to me. Someone will be along that knows tons more than I do, your in the right place and good luck with it! Al

 

[gadget73]

1) Fishers are occasionally lambasted as being "too tubey" with a slightly rolled off top end. Depending on what you are used to hearing, this may or may not be perfectly normal. Subjective analysis of frequency response is pretty near impossible to be fully honest. I don't get much into the whole "sound of components" thing, but some will also say the Russian PIO caps tend to roll off the top end a little too. That may or may not be a contributing factor, iunno.

2/3 ) A lot of this depends on how hot your source is. If its a modern CD player or other device that is at or above 1v, the volume knob will tend to be overly touchy and you'll find the point of clipping lower in the range than otherwise. Keep in mind you're probably talking around 20 watts a channel here. It will run out of steam at some point and its entirely possible that it runs out of steam well before the volume control hits max. Not entirely sure what the input sensitivity specs are, but it may be somewhere around a half volt for line level sources.

Not sure about the weak channel but it may just be a dirty control or connection. Things that come and go randomly are usually some sort of funny contact, and they can be a real PITA to chase out.


Your tone control settings are pretty much where I find my TA-600 likes to be. The TA-600 is not completely different from the X202 in basic design, though its got a tuner in the mix and is a bit less powerful. I will also say my 600 is probably not going to reproduce dog whistles, but it sounds quite fine. I've never actually done a frequency response test on it, so I don't know how it measures up. It does seem to have a very slight roll-off at the very top but not enough that I've ever been bothered by it.


That knob you might find. Its the same as what the TA600 and TA800 at least used.